.... the jackal rides and run....

Saturday : This was a good workout ride with Ryo. Started out 5.30am from my place and cycled leisurely to the meeting point at AML. As usual Ryo was already waiting. Mr. Punctual. I was prepared to suffer as I know between the 2 of us, on this of ride there will be a lot of 'challenges' along the way. Pace was decent up to Old Upper Thomson Road where we got stuck behind a big group at relatively slower pace. After that, I think all hell broke loose. Sprinted at the slope going towards Mandai road.....went quite fast (with headwind as well!) at Mandai Road. Ryo led at 35+km/h along Kranji leading up to Neo Tiew and I tried to keep the pace there when I took over. At LCK, yet again going up to 38-40km/h just the 2 of us. Jalan Buroh was pure excitement as I knew he would do his best to destroy me at the slopes. The icing on the cake was the West Coast Viaduct where I managed to lead up 80% or 4.5km at average speed of 40km/h. Not that many trucks to help but I could detect a ...

Back to trail running with PTR. This time around ; JM, JvM, Ryo and Kuan joined. Met at the usual place (Casuarina Drive carpark) and started off at around 6am. This time I had my Salomon with me, I think this helps a lot in getting my mind off stuff on my hands and concentrate better on the trail. It does get a bit warm though! We did the usual ~20km route covering part of Macritchie, Rifle Range road and Woodcutter's Trail. Starting out, the pace was quite fast for me on trail and I fell back after couple of kms into MR and RR but eventually they slowed down and I caught up. I decided to control the group pace a little going into WCT....I got a bit tired and gave the lead to JM who took it faster! The trail was muddy and wet but still not too bad. At Old Upper Thomson road, we all went barefoot until Casuarina. I felt relieved to get those muddy we shoes off! This is the first run I did on this route where I finished feeling still relatively alive! Covered 105km for the past ...

SATURDAY So comes the trail run Saturday. The PTR (Pre-Dawn Trail Runners) group formed in FB by JM have now offcially 6 members. All of which turned up. HG, new to the group and fellow barefooter turned up. Picked up Ryo at 5.35am and got to the meeting point a bit late. Did not manage to take my ritual pee before the run haha so rushed off in pursuit of the group. Upon reaching Venus drive and before getting to the trails, I stopped to take a leak but seeing the guys already going in I rushed and was fumbling with my lights....inevitably, fell down at the start of the trail and got hit on my left knee (which is still painful today....got a bit of a limp while walking) and some rashes on the right shin. Nothing major cosmetically but it did hurt a bit running and I still have about 17km to go! Luckily HG waited for me and we ran together until we caught the tail-end of the group. As usual I slowed down the group a fair bit as they have to stop to wait. I don't feel good about ...

MERRELL TRAIL GLOVE  ROAD GLOVE quick review :  Compared to the Puma's, the forefoot area is more rigid and offers more protection from the rocky path. What's noticeable is also the arch area....I would not call this arch support but there is something there that confirms to the arch making the fit from heel to midfoot, snug and good.  The toe-box is great and my toes could literally 'splay' as I forefoot strike, very nice. I do feel like it promotes midfoot strike more than the Puma's. As it rained previously at MT, the trail was wet and the path was a little bit slippery for it...but I imagine it should be not much different from other trail shoes in this respect. I still find the Puma's more barefoot than these TGs. I will stick to Puma's for road and TGs for the trail. Something about the TG sole tread that feels weird on the road. EDIT : So after comparing the sole online, mine is really the Road Glove. However, I do not see why it can...